Nishiyuu Walkers on final stretches of 1,300-km trek to Ottawa

Teresa Smith, OTTAWA CITIZEN03.21.2013

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. Residents and well wishers lined the route to shake hands and wish good luck to the walkers.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday. David Kawapit of Whapmagoostui near Hudson Bay is the original walker.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday. David Kawapit of Whapmagoostui near Hudson Bay is the original walker.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

Seven young people from a James Bay Cree community in Quebec have been walking for the past two months along traditional Cree/Algonquin trading routes. Their numbers have swelled to about 200 as many people have joined the walk as they stopped in communities along the way. They’re hoping to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday. They stopped in Kitigan Zibi for a rest day Wednesday.Pat McGrath
/ Ottawa Citizen

MANIWAKI, Que. — David Kawapit, 18, wanted Canadians to hear his voice. So, on Jan. 16, 2013, he set out with six of his friends from their home in Whapmagoostui, Que., to walk 1,300 kilometres to Ottawa.

The Nishiyuu Walkers, as they are called, are travelling along traditional Cree and Algonquin trading routes, bringing a message of unity to other First Nations and Canadians, alike.

Armed with walking sticks, snowshoes and smartphones, word of their journey spread through social media and word of mouth and, as they passed through each northern community, more First Nations youth — both Cree and Algonquin — joined the walk.

By Monday’s arrival on Parliament Hill, organizers expect at least 250 walkers and many more supporters to swell the ranks.

“Every person is walking for their own reasons,” Kawapit said Wednesday afternoon in Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, near Maniwaki, where the group had stopped to rest for the day.

“Some people have lost a loved one; others are walking for their own survival. Others want to be drug free,” he said.

For Kawapit, his reason is simple: “The Cree nation used to go on journeys that lasted years to reunite the people. That’s what I want. That’s what we need.”

Max Poucachiche, 24, joined the “sacred march” in Lac Simon, an Algonquin community a few days’ walk from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg.

He is walking with his three sisters and his brother “for future generations.”

“It depends on us,” said Poucachiche, looking up at the eagle feathers attached to his painted walking stick. “It’s our job to defend our territory.”

On Tuesday night, 100 walkers slept on the floor of the Maniwaki arena. Perhaps not such cosy accommodations, but a far cry from the first leg of the trip when the original six walkers left their Hudson Bay community to trek through the bush in -41 C temperatures.

“The first part of the walk was the hardest,” said Geordie Rupert, 21, who started the walk with Kawapit. “It was so cold. We’d leave with the sun and wouldn’t stop walking until sundown. Our tears froze to our faces.”

Rupert spent a lot of time at the beginning of the journey in tears. Only seven months earlier, he had lost his 10-month-old son, Rolan.

But while he used to cry when he thought of his young boy, he said he has come to accept the death through the healing steps of his journey.

“Now I feel like he’s walking with me,” said Rupert. “I see him running around at my feet and, as I start my day, I say, ‘Let’s go, my son.’”

Matthew Natachequan, 79, a Cree elder from Whapmagoostui, has been meeting the walkers at each of their stops, offering emotional support and advice to the many young people who are dealing with heavy burdens.

Christopher Iserhoff, 19, from the Cree community of Mistissini, Que., joined the walkers in Rapid Lake only one week ago. But already, he said, he has learned a lot about how to confront his issues with drugs and alcohol.

He says the secret is in sovereignty for his people and a renewal of their traditional relationships with other indigenous nations.

Marilyn Jerome, 41, says the walk is just the beginning of that renewal and she sees the friendships on every face.

Jerome is one of the many helpers who drive alongside the walkers, carrying packs, food and supplies and making sure the young people are safe.

Every community is responsible for its own walkers, but Jerome said the crews work closely together and have become “like a big family.”

“We say good morning to each other, even if we don’t know who they are. It’s helping to restore our historical allies and friendships. This is what it’s about.”

The friendships have spread into the online realm, with the Journey of the Nishiyuu Facebook page garnering nearly 32,000 members and daily mentions on Twitter.

The walk has spurred both native and non-native supporters to wade into discussions about indigenous rights, the relationship between Canada and aboriginal peoples, and how to build upon the momentum of the Idle No More movement.

For Lyric Moses, 15, who goes back and forth between her home in the Cree community of Waswanipi and Ottawa, where she attends Grade 9 at Darcy McGee High School, the theme of unity and the need to respect one another is at the top of her mind.

“There are people on both sides who push each other away,” she said. “We need to learn how to live together.”

The walkers are expected to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday night and will walk to Parliament Hill for a celebration on Monday.

Photos and stories from their journey are available on their website .

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